It was only in February that former Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou told the Overlap podcast that Spurs were not a big club.
Breaking down their recruitment strategy, the Aussie revealed that he was “looking at Pedro Neto, Bryan Mbeumo and Antoine Semenyo at the time and Marc Guehi.”
“If we're going to go from fifth to challenging, that's what other big clubs would do at that time,” concluded Ange.
What happens next? However, Spurs have finished back-to-back seasons in 17th place and are now their fourth manager in a year after Postecoglou, Thomas Frank and Igor Tudor were all given the boot.
Under Roberto De Zerbi, the button has been changed. The Lilywhites have taken their former manager's advice and signed a bunch of proven Premier League players. The additions of Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali, in particular, have been very impressive.
Why Spurs needed to improve their pitch
There were so many problems at Tottenham last season that it's almost time to list them all. Whether it's the poor defensive record or the sheer number of injuries they've suffered, it feels like the Spurs have lost from the start.
They also suffered from a number of problems in midfield, something Conor Gallagher was able to fix when he joined in the winter.
The truth is that the crop of players they have in that position has been very similar. However, first and foremost, some are not even close to being good enough.
Yves Bissouma finally left this summer after an uneventful spell in north London while Lucas Bergvall could also leave. Premier League sides are already assessing his situation after the arrival of Tonali and Fernandes.
However, what they really missed was continuity. They missed midfielders who could punch through the lines and get their team up the pitch. They missed the players who can play the top machine.
|
Tonali & Fernandes vs Spurs mid 2025/26 (90 per cent) |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
The player |
Passing forward |
Passing success |
Possession won (final 3rd) |
|
Tonali |
16.81 |
84.8% |
0.53 |
|
Fernandes |
12.65 |
87.8% |
0.51 |
|
Sarr |
10.55 |
84.4% |
0.32 |
|
Gray |
10.77 |
82.7% |
0.12 |
|
Palhinha |
12.86 |
81.8% |
0.20 |
|
Bentancur |
11.70 |
85.6% |
0.33 |
Indeed, last season, Pape-Matar Sarr's boys, Archie Gray, Joao Palhinha and Rodrigo Bentancur all worked hard. They really lacked any kind of direct nature.
Tonali and Fernandes can solve that. They made a lot of forward passes in 90 minutes. Worse, they turned and re-inherited more often than any of their new teammates.
For De Zerbi's side who rely on quick changes and continuous play, it tells you all you need to know about why he wants to bring two big-money midfielders to Spurs this summer.
However, can they add another midfielder to their ranks?
The £80m Premier League star could add even more to Spurs
If you thought Tonali and Fernandes would be the end of you, think again. Spurs are ready to throw in more money this window and have identified Bournemouth's Alex Scott as a possible option if he leaves the Cherries.
Worth around £80m, Alasdair Gold took to YouTube to give the latest on Tottenham's transfer business. Gold commented: “Junior Kroupi we know is a player with a lot of interest from many clubs, not just Tottenham. He is a fearsome talent but the feeling coming out of Bournemouth is that he is not for sale and they have been making the same noise about Alex Scott. Spurs respect him. I would like them to go with Alex Scott and he may choose them as a Tottenham fan.”
We have to admit, it seems unlikely that Spurs will add a third midfielder but in Scott, they could sign De Zerbi's perfect midfielder. He is something of a hybrid between Fernandes and Tonali and would suit the style of play well.
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As their £100m new man, he controls the ball well and is uber-combined. Like Fernandes, he is a very hard worker and a fantastic ball handler. As of February 2026 when the data was recorded, no Premier League player had covered a faster distance than Scott at 10.90km.
The 23-year-old completed just over 84% of his passes last season, ranking among Spurs' new midfielders in that metric while also winning the final third 0.41 times per 90, more than Tottenham's midfielders in 2025/26.
At the same time, Scott showed that, when it comes to defensive work, he is actually better than the purchase of club records.
Last term, the Bournemouth star made 6.14 tackles and produced 12.18 defensive contributions per 90 minutes. In contrast, Tonali holds 5.20 and 9.10 while Fernandes averages 5.42 and 10.95 respectively.
On that evidence, it sounds like Scott is the perfect combination of the two. He can do the dirty work but he's also not afraid to step forward. He completed 0.91 dribbles successfully last term to 0.67 for the Italians and 0.83 for the Portuguese.
With De Zerbi looking to strengthen and improve off the field next term, the trio will tick all the possible boxes.
